Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
It all depends on what B&N's business model is. I think that if they go back to the model they used some 10 to 15 years ago, i.e. a bookstore that encouraged browsing and hanging out, i.e. the social aspects of reading, and was focused on what dedicated readers want, then they might have a pretty good shot at things. There are still a lot of people out there who like to read and aren't really into eBooks. Heck, I might even start going back there if they fill that social void as well as some other aspects that Amazon isn't particularly good at. I'm not sure how profitable it would be though. Certainly, it would have to be focused on a premium experience to get people to get out of the house and into the store.
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I think the biggest problems B&N has had are reducible to 3, at least for the people like me who buy a lot of print books every year.
First, even though I am a B&N member, the discount membership gives me at the store still almost always leaves the book higher priced than if I buy the same book at B&N online. I used to go to the local store to buy books, not to sit and read or hangout or buy coffee -- to buy books. I used to buy 4 or 5 books at a time and my wife would buy an additional few. But the price spread was enough to make it unworthwhile to go to the store, especially if you add in the cost of getting there (and back), including the time.
Second, the store only sells books that are already released, which is understandable. But heavy readers like me tend to preorder books (I currently have more than 40 hardcovers still on preorder; if I count all of the books I preordered for delivery in 2019, including those already received, the preorder count for hardcovers exceeds 75 to date) , yet the stores have no way to let you browse coming books and make preorders -- the advice is to go online.
Complicating this preorder problem is the lack of a lowest price guarantee. I have complained to B&N at least a dozen times about this. And it is a real problem because there is nothing more irritating than preordering a book and discovering when it arrives 6 months later that B&N had offered the book for $5 less. It is true that if I happened to catch that, B&N customer service would refund the difference, but catching that lower price offer is a matter of luck. Amazon is much better because I can just preorder the book and receive the lowest price automatically. I have told B&N that it isn't a matter of matching Amazon's price; rather, it is giving me the lowest B&N price without my having to police every preorder. But B&N has done nothing to fix this problem.
As a result, I have shifted my preordering (except for editions I cannot get at Amazon like signed books) to Amazon. This is a significant number of titles and if many others do the same, B&N has lost a lot of sales.
Third, membership has really no perks. The only advantage for me is that I get free shipping, which is supposed to be "express" (defined as 1-3 days) but rarely is. B&N needs to up its membership game and really make membership valuable. One thing I have suggested in the past is to give members the lowest price in the store; that is, if a member buys a book that with the member discount will cost $20 but is available online for $17, give it to the member in the store for $17. Or make shipping truly express.
B&N stores won't succeed unless the stores and the online are closer together in terms of pricing. Why spend more to be able to choose from less inventory?